CORRALITOS - An 18-year-old Watsonville man was arrested Saturday after county gang investigators tried to stop a white Honda Accord at Amesti and Green Valley roads for a vehicle code violation about 3:20 p.m. and the driver sped away, officers said.

Three men were inside the car, which officers realized had been reported stolen earlier Saturday in Salinas, said Sgt. Mario Sulay, commander of the Santa Cruz County Gang Task Force.

The driver, Enrique Zamora Ortiz, crashed the Honda into barriers on Amesti Road near a washout just past Pioneer Road, and the three leaped out and ran, Sulay said.

Officers caught Ortiz and a 17-year-old, he said.

The third man, a Latino who looked about 20 years old and who was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, was last seen running down the wash toward Corralitos, he said.

Investigators saw Ortiz throw a gun as he ran, a loaded .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol reported stolen in San Bernardino County in 1994, Sulay said.

In the car, officers found a shaved key and a generic device used to circumvent lock and ignition mechanisms, he said.

Ortiz was arrested on suspicion of unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen firearm, gang involvement, vehicle theft, failure to yield, possession of a burglary tool and resisting arrest, officers said.

He remained in County Jail on Sunday.

The unidentified 17-year-old was booked into Juvenile Hall on suspicion of vehicle theft, resisting arrest, and gang crimes.

Both are known to the task force as active gang participants, Sulay said.

Officers are looking for the third man.

The task force officers who spotted the young men in the Honda are from the California Highway Patrol and Watsonville Police Department, Sulay said. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office assisted as well.